Calloway Military School
by HardWrapping
Summary: Jake Jester is stuck working at Calloway Military school. Despite his reluctance he finds it may not be so bad. At least not until he discovers there is a school of monsters living right next door. A Ghouls School fic. Sibella/Tug. Tanis/Baxter. Elsa/Grunt. Winnie/Miguel. Phantasma/Jamal.
1. First Impressions

The young man made his way down the side of the road with his bag of belongings slung over his shoulder. He looked like he was in his early to mid twenties and had short black messy hair, a red and yellow shirt, and blue baggy jeans. He approached a pair of large black gates and looked up at the building behind it.

Jake looked down at the map and then back up. So this was the place huh? The Calloway Military school. He walked up and to the gates and looked for a buzzer or doorbell, but found nothing. He looked annoyed and then kicked the gate. "Hey! Anyone home?" He shouted. There was no answer.

He couldn't believe this. He was supposed to be stuck at this stupid place for who knows how long, the least they could do is open the freaking gate for him. "Screw this..." He muttered. He reached up and began climbing the gate. Just as he reached the top the gates suddenly began to open. "What the hell..." He jumped back down and then made his way towards the building.

Once he got to the door he knocked on it a few times. After a few moments the door opened and he found himself staring at a young boy. "Oh... hey."

"Hi." The boy said giving a small wave.

There was an awkward silence. "So... can I talk to Mr. Calloway please?"

"You mean Colonel Calloway?" He asked.

"Yeah, that guy." Jake said. The boy turned around and began leading him down the hall. He entered, closed the door behind him, and followed. As they made their way down the hall he took note of the school. It was clean, organized, and neat. He hated this type of places. Just as they headed for the stairs they heard a loud commotion.

Two boys ran out into the hall. The large fat looking one was chasing after the skinnier curly haired one. "Grunt! Calm down!" The curly haired one shouted.

"I told you not to touch my snack stash! The ONE rule I have around this place is NOT to touch the snack stash!" The larger one yelled angrily.

The two ran past them and a loud crashing sound followed. "Aw crap! The Colonel is going to kill us!" He heard the curly haired one yell.

Jake paused for a moment and looked back and them, but then quickly realized the young boy was still moving. He quickly followed him up the stairs. They entered another hallway and as they walked by he looked in one of the rooms and saw a tall boy doing pull ups on his bed.

The second room they walked by a blonde boy was sitting on his bed listening to music. He noticed them walking past and then took his headphones off. "Hey Baxter." He called. The younger boy stopped and then looked over towards the blonde. "Who he?" He asked.

The young boy, Baxter, simply shrugged his shoulder. "He said he's here to see Calloway."

The blonde sighed and slapped his forehead. "So you just let him in the door? What if he had been an axe murderer or a serial killer or something?"

Baxter once against shrugged and then began heading down the hall once more. Jake looked at the blond and then gave a smirk. "I'm killing you first kid." He said in the most creepy axe murderer voice he could muster. The blonde rolled his eyes and then slipped his headphones back on. Jake continued to tail Baxter down the hall until they reached a door.

"This is Colonel Calloway's office."

Jake reached down and ruffled his hair before opening the door to the office. "Thanks squirt." As he entered he saw a man, who he could only assumed was Colonel Calloway sitting at a desk and going through paper work. "Hello?"

The man jumped up startled and then grabbed his heart. "What the-?! I told you all to knock before you..." He looked at Jake and then raised an eyebrow. "Wait, who are you?" He asked.

Jake reached into his pocket and pulled out a letter. "My name is Jake. Jake Jester." He said before flicking the letter onto the desk. "My dad sent me here."

"Your Mr. Jester's son? Yes, he did give me a call about your arrival." Calloway said before reaching down and opening the letter. He quickly read over it while mumbling to himself. He placed the letter down and looked up at Jake. "So that's the situation huh?"

"Yeah." Jake said bitterly.

Colonel Calloway took his hat off and then set it on the desk. "Well, I'm glad to have you working here Captain Jester." He said holding his hand out.

"Um... thanks..." He said reaching out and shaking his hand. "Captain?"

Calloway nodded. "If you're going to work here you need a rank. It gives you an air of authority for the boys to respect." He said. "Speaking of the boys, I should introduce you the students."

He walked out of the room and Jake reluctantly followed. He'd known this guy for less than five minutes and he had already deduced that he was probably a blowhard. They made their way to the mess hall and then Calloway took a deep breath and shouted out. "Everyone! Report to the mess hall this instant!" He shouted.

Jake could hear footsteps coming from every direction. The boys scrambled into the mess hall and then lined up in front of Calloway. "First of all, who broke the vase in the main hall?" He asked looking at all of them. Both the fat and curly haired boy pointed to one another. "You both had yard duty for a week."

Both of them groaned. "Alright cadets, I want you to meet the new staff member, Captain Jester. He will be in charge of your activities and double as a counselor from this point forward." He said walking back and forth in front of them. Jake looked surprised. Counselor? Did that mean he'd have to talk to this runts about their problems or whatever?

All of these boys looked like they were about sixteen or so, except Baxter of course. The last thing he needed was to be pestered with the emotional problems of a bunch of teenagers. "Now, everyone introduce yourself."

The first to step forward was the tall dark skinned boy he saw doing pull ups earlier. He saluted before introducing himself. "My name is Jamal Williams sir!"

Baxter stepped forward and then saluted as well. "My name is Baxter sir."

"I'm Grunt." The large boy said smirking.

"Miguel." The curly haired boy said.

"Tug Roper." The blonde boy said simply.

Jake looked at all of them and then scratched his head. "Uh... hey. Name is Jake Jester. Nice to meet you guys. Hope we can all get along and all that jazz." He said not sure whether he was supposed to salute or not. This whole army routine thing was pretty much foreign to him.

Callowy nodded and then turned back towards the boys. "Okay, I'm going to finish up some paper work, and I'm sure Captain Jester wants to settle in. While we're busy you all can head outside and do suicides. Dismissed." The boys all groaned and made their way outside.

Calloway showed Jake to his room. To his surprise it wasn't half bad. Bigger than his old room back home, and nearly spotless. He threw his bag in he corner and then jumped onto his bed. It wasn't the softest thing in the world, but he'd slept on worst. He sighed. How did he get himself into this mess.

After taking an hour to unpack all his things he decided to head outside and check out the school grounds. He saw the boys running back and forth doing suicides. "Man, you guys are still out here? It's been like an hour and a half already." He said approaching them.

Jamal looked towards him but kept moving. "Colonel says we have to do suicides until he finishes all his paper work." He explained.

"How long does he usually take to do his paperwork?" Jake asked.

"All day." Tug said bitterly. He stopped and then sat down on the ground. "I'm taking a break."

Miguel and Baxter were quick to join him. Grunt, who was panting heavily, ran a few more feet before falling over onto the ground. Jamal stopped and looked at them. "Guys, we have orders."

"Oh, just stuff it man. He never comes to check on us anyway so it isn't like he's going to find out." Tug said laying down on his back and looking up at the sky. "Not unless Captain Jester over here snitches on us."

Jake scowled. "I could honestly care less what you runts do."

"Exercise sucks." Grunt said breathing heavily.

"Are you sure you're not just saying that because your a little..." Miguel smirked held his hands over his stomach. "You know."

"Hey! I'm not fat. I'm plump." Grunt clarified.

"It's the same damn thing." Tug said chuckling.

Jake sat down near them and crossed his arms. "So is this pretty much what you guys do all day? Run suicides and all that crap." He asked.

"What? Of course not." Tug said, sarcasm dripping off every word. "Sometimes we run laps or do jumping jacks. If we're really lucky then we get to run the obstacle course all day long."

Jake got back up and then headed for the garage. "You guys sure he never comes to check on you right?" He asked. They all looked at each other confused, and clearly caught off guard by this question. They turned back and nodded. "I'll be back." He lifted the garage door and then walked inside. After few moments the garage door opened back up.

The boys watched as Jake drove off with the truck. "Wait, is he allowed to take the truck?" Jamal asked looking towards the others.

Tug laid back and yawned. "Who knows and who cares. It's not like we'll get in trouble for it anyway." They all seemed to accept that answer, except Grunt who was still face down on the ground.

"Water..."

* * *

After another half hour they heard the truck coming back and all looked towards the gate. Jake drove up in front of the garage and then excited the car. He went into the back of the truck and then held up a bottle of water. "First, lets get you punks hydrated." He said tossing bottles of water out to them.

They all caught them and began drinking as fast as they could. Usually they weren't allowed to leave during their drills and Colonel assigned them water breaks, but there was technically no rule saying that they couldn't drink water that someone brought to them. Grunt down his bottle in one go and then looked up at Jake. "More!" He shouted.

Jake looked at him as if he were crazy, but tossed him another bottle. He began drinking it down just as fast as the first one. "Now we're going to do some REAL exercises." He said reaching back into the truck. He pulled out a football and tossed it up and down.

"Football?" Tug said surprised.

"Alright! We doing touch or tackle?!" Grunt yelled excitedly. It was like all the energy had jumped right back into this body.

"Touch or tackle-?! Of course we're doing tackle! We're men!" Jake said sticking his chest out.

Jamal rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't know. Don't you think we should clear this with the colonel first?" He asked worriedly.

Jake tossed the football to him. "Why should we? It's not like he's coming out to check on you. Besides, I'm the new activities director, and I say a game of football is on the schedule."

They all looked at each other and then began tossing the foot ball around. Jake smirked and sat in the back of the truck watching as they tossed the ball back and forth and tackled one another. It seemed like all the energy that had been zapped away by the suicides was flowing right back.

Amazing. When you told them just to exercise they groaned, complained, and grew tired. But when you told them to 'play', it was a completely different story. The next half hour was just them goofing around and playing. Jake watched as Baxter finally managed to get the ball.

He brought his arm back and threw it, but it only went a few feet before bouncing off the ground. The other boys shook their heads or laughed as Jake slapped his forehead. "Hey squirt, what the hell was that? Didn't you anyone ever teach you how to throw a football?" He asked.

Baxter shook his head no. "No sir."

"Don't call me sir. It's just Jake when the colonel isn't around. Now give me that ball." Jamal tossed the ball back to him and he gave it back to Baxter.

"I'm not sure I can do this." Baxter said.

"Of course you can. It's like this. You hold your arm up, fingers on the laces. Hold the ball near your ear, wind back, and then step forward as you throw." He explained.

Baxter nodded and then positioned his body like Jake showed him. He winded back and then stepped forward throwing the ball. The others looked shocked as they watched the ball fly across the field. "Whoa! Did I do that?!" Baxter asked.

"Holy crap!" Grunt said.

"Look at that air!" Jamal pitched in.

"See, you a natural!" Jake said patting him on the back.

"Uh, guys..." Miguel said pointing upwards.

They all looked up and watched as the ball headed towards a large fence near the end of the campus. "Oh no, please no." Tug said nervously. The ball landed right on the fence and spun for a few seconds before tipping over onto the other side. "Damn it!" He cursed.

All the boys groaned. "Aw c'mon, don't be a bunch of lazy asses. Just go get it." Jake said.

Miguel shook his head. "You don't get it. That's Ghoul School territory. Anything that goes over that fence is as good as lost." He said kicking the dirt.

"Ghoul school?" Jake asked.

"Ms. Grimwood's finishing school for Ghouls." Jamal said.

"Don't you mean for girls?" Jake asked.

"No! Ghouls! It's an all girl school full of monsters!" Grunt explained.

Jake looked at him like they were idiots. "Are you guys serious? You're afraid of a bunch of girls? Get your asses over that fence and get the ball!"

"You don't understand! When we say monster we mean-"

"That their scary, yes! So what?! Your men aren't you!"

"No! We mean-!"

"Look, I paid fifteen bucks for that ball, someone's going to go get it!" Jake snapped.

"Make Baxter do it! He's the one who threw it!" Grunt said pointing at the younger boy.

Baxter looked terrified. "What?! No! I'm not going over there by myself!"

Jake had had enough for this. "You won't have too! We're ALL going over there. we're ALL going to jump the fence, and we're ALL going to get the ball back! And you guys are going to stop acting like a bunch of punk asses." He said. "You got that?!"

"Dude, I'm begging you! Don't make us do this! Crossing into Ghoul School territory is practically suicide!" Tug said pulling on the front of his shirt.

"You have two options. You can man the hell up and go get the ball, or I'll tell the Colonel you guys were out here playing football instead of doing your drills." Jake said.

The boys all looked at each other and then huddled up. Jake couldn't believe this. Were they actually thinking about getting in trouble instead of getting the ball? They all stopped and Tug cleared his throat. "We're going with the second one."

"Okay, well now I'm just going to pull rank. I'm ORDERING you to go get the ball."

"Aw man!"

"Not fair!"

"We are so dead.."

* * *

Jake climbed over the fence joining the rest of the boys. He turned around and then looked for the football as the rest of the boys looked around nervously for any sign of the girls. Jake managed to spot the ball near the stump of an old rotted tree. "Okay. Whose ready to man up and go get that ball?" He asked looking at the group.

"I volunteer... Baxter." Grunt said raising Baxter's hand. "To be the guy who gets the ball."

Baxter quickly pulled his hand away. "Well, seeing as he was the one who threw the ball, that seems pretty fair. Go get it squirt."

Baxter looked terrified. He turned towards the ball and stared at it. It was only about twenty or so feet away, but it might as well have been miles away to him. He gulped and then made a mad dash towards the ball. He grabbed it and then turned around and dash back towards the group.

He smiled. He was going to make it! He was really going to make it! Just as he was about to make it back to the group a pair of bandages shot out from the shadows and wrapped around his feet. He fell to the ground and suddenly felt himself behind pulled back. "Ah! No! Help me!"

Jake looked stunned. He quickly jumped forward and then grabbed Baxter's hand. "Don't let go! Don't let go!" Baxter shouted desperately.

"I'm not!" Jake said. He held on as tightly as he could, but then felt himself behind pulled in as well. He looked back at the others. "What the hell guys! Help me!"

The other quickly ran forward and grabbed Jake's legs. They pulled back and proceeded to have tug of war, with Baxter as the prize. With one large pull they managed to pull Baxter back towards the fence. As they did Jake saw the person on the other end of the bandages. It was a... a mummy! A mummy with a pink bow! What in the world?!

The mummy realized it had been pulled out into the open and gasped. It quickly released it's hold on Baxter and then ran back into the shadows. Bater quickly ran back to the fence and began climbing over. "What the hell was that?!" Jake asked.

"That, was Tanis." Jamal said.

"What?!" Jake said clearly confused.

"Did you think we were joking earlier when we said it was a GHOULS school? Every girl in that school is a monster." Tug said. "That was Tanis. She's a mummy. She also happened to be the youngest and smallest monster there."

Jake wouldn't have believed this is he hadn't of seen it with his own eyes. "But- Wha- There are monster living right next door to us! Shouldn't we call the police or something?!"

Jamal waved his hand. "Aw, don't be such a worry wart. They don't eat people or any of that stuff in the myths. But they are really scary. Way scarier than the average girls." He said.

Jake shook his head trying to take all of this in. There were monsters. REAL monsters living next door to them. And it seemed like everyone was fine with it. "What have I gotten myself in to..."

The boys all began climbing back over the fence. "A whole lot of trouble dude." Tug said smirking at him. "Welcome to Calloway Military school."


	2. Food for Thought

A week had gone by and not a word was spoken about the incident with the football. Every once in a while Jake heard one of the boys joke about someone, who he guessed was one of the girls based on their name. But other than that, it was as if all these guys were oblivious to the fact that there were monster next door. He thought about going to Calloway, but decided not to.

The colonel didn't seem all that sharp, and even if he did know about the monsters, Jake doubted he would get any worthwhile answers. Instead he went to Tug, who seemed to be the leader of the group. He opened the door and saw Tug reading a book. "Wow, didn't take you for the comic book. Tug looked surprised but then eased up when he saw it was just Jake.

"Man, don't scare me like that. Thought you were the colonel."

"I'm guessing he's not a big fan of comics then?"

Tug looked back down at his book. "He's not really a fan of anything fun." He said flipping to the next page. That much was clear enough. Ever since Jake had gotten here, he hadn't seen a single sign of anything that would actually be considered entertainment. No video games, no board games, not even a freaking TV.

But Tug had to admit, things had been a bit easier since Jake arrived. He and the boys seemed to share a mutual understanding. So long as they didn't bother him with their little teenaged drama, he let them do whatever they wanted. Their days had been spent doing fake exercises and drills to keep the colonel from getting suspicious. "So, about the Ghouls School..."

Tug looked up at him and smirked. "So you've finally come to ask about it huh? I'm honestly a little surprised you didn't ask me about it sooner." He said laying back on his bed. "The last guy who worked here found out and quit like two days later. We have a pool going on seeing how long you're going to stick around."

Jake frowned down at him. "I'm not going anywhere." He said. Not that he had a choice in the matter. "So what's the deal with this whole monster school thing?"

"It's pretty much just how it sounds." Tug said simply.

"Does the Colonel know about this?" Jake asked.

Tug scoffed. "Of course that dunder head doesn't know. He barely even looks after us, much less those ghoul girls." He said flipping to the next page of his comic.

Jake scratched his head. "That figures. Still, this whole thing is pretty freaking weird. How in the world can you guys be so casual about this?" He asked.

"We weren't, not at first anyway. But after a while we just sort of figured we had to deal with it, so we did. We have our little spats now and then, but for the most part we don't mess with them, and they don't mess with us." Tug explained.

Jake looked suspicious. "You sure they aren't dangerous."

Tug chuckled. "Are you kidding me? If they had it in them to kill then they would have done it by now. Especially after all the stunts we pulled over the years." He said.

Jake decided to accept that answer. That fact that the boys seemed so calm, along with the fact that they were still here, told him that he was in no danger. No immediate danger anyway. "So when the hell do you guys plan on getting by ball back?" He asked.

Tug looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Are you insane? We barely made it back in one piece the last time. Do you realize if anybody but Tanis was there we would have been torn to bits?"

"Well you guys better pay up then!" Jake snapped.

The blonde frowned at him. "Did we do something that gives you the impression that we have money or something? Cause news flash, we don't. We're kind of broke." He said pulling out his empty pockets to emphasize his point.

Jake sighed and then ran his hand through his hair. This place was an absolute wreck. What in the world did his father see in this place? "Whatever. I'm going to go grab something to eat."

"Good luck with that." Tug said chuckling. There was nothing down there but gruel, gruel, and more gruel. Colonel Calloway kept all the good food to himself.

Jake looked at him curiously and then went downstairs. And hour passed and Tug still sat on his bed reading the same comic. He sighed and then tossed it aside. He had been stuck with the same comics for almost a month now, and he was getting tired of reading them over. But there was no way he could get his hands on any new ones.

The only reason he got these way because his sister hid them under the box of cookies she sent from home. He wanted to ask her to send more, but she had absolutely no idea about comics. She would only end up sending the wrong ones or something. It was a miracle that she managed to get her hands on these.

He was starting to wish she hadn't though. It was torture having these comics and knowing he'd never be able to get his hands on the next issues. Like getting a small taste of cookie batter before having the bowl pulled away. He groaned. Now he was think about cookies. He licked his lips remembering the batch his sister sent. They were soft, chewy, chocolately, and smelled...

Like bacon? He sat up and then sniffed in the air to make sure he wasn't crazy. He wasn't imagining things. He smelt bacon. "Do you smell that?" Jamal asked sticking his head in the door. "It smells like bacon."

Tug got up and then hurriedly made his way downstairs, and the rest of the boys were quick to follow. When they got downstairs they saw Jake sitting at the table with a plate of bacon, eggs, and pancakes. He was about to dig in until he looked up and saw them all staring. "What?"

"That's food." Miguel said in disbelief.

"Real food." Jamal said stunned.

"It's not grey or mushy or anything." Baxter said shocked.

Jake looked at them curiously. What exactly was the big deal here? "What the heck is wrong with you guys? Haven't you even seen eggs and bacon before?" He asked. Grunt was literally drooling at the mouth. "Dude, that's nasty."

Miguel gulped. "The last time we got anything even close to food was like three years ago." He said sniffing into the air. "Oh man, I almost forgot what pork smelled like."

"Can we have some?" Baxter asked.

"What? No! Just go in the damn fridge and get some!" Jake snapped.

Tug crossed his arms. "There's no bacon or eggs in there! There's nothing in the fridge but that nasty military ration stuff! It's hardly even food!" He said.

"Well there was plenty in my fridge." Jake said.

"You have a fridge?!" Grunt said shocked.

Jake scratched his head. "Well yeah. It's just a mini fridge though. I thought you all had one in your rooms or something."

"No!" Jamal yelled. "We thought the only other fridge in the house was Calloway's, and he keeps that on lockdown twenty four seven!"

Jake got up and then made their way to the fridge. He opened it up and then cringed before covering his nose. It was filled with treys of a grey paste like substance. "Aw man! This stuff is seriously rank! How in the hell do you eat this?!" He said quickly closing the fridge back.

"With great disdain." Miguel said shuttering. "That stuff is mucho bruto."

"C'mon man! You can't whip out the good stuff and not give us a share! We'll split that one plate! Just give us something!" Grunt said.

Jake looked at them and scratched his head. They looked so... pathetic. He sighed. "I'm not giving you my plate." He said simply. They all frowned. "I'll make you guys your own." They all suddenly brightened up.

"Woah, seriously?!"

"Awesome!"

"Sweet!"

Jake headed up stairs to go grab some food form his refrigerator. There was no way he could have left them with that crap after they had finally gotten a whiff of real food. He wouldn't wish that on his worst enemies.

* * *

Jake watched as the boys scarfed down their food with gusto. You'd think they hadn't eaten for weeks the way they were putting it down. Grunt was literally crying tears of joy as he cut into his pancakes. "Man! So fluffy and sweet! I feel like I'm in heaven!" Grunt said.

Baxter was eating to quickly Jake doubted he was actually tasting his food. The young boy ended up stuffing his mouth and had to watch it down with a cup of orange juice. "Hey squirt, slow down before you end up choking to death." Jake advised.

Tug nodded. "He's right! Don't eat to fast. This will probably be the first real meal we get in a while, so make it last." He said.

"God damn. Is Calloway really only feeding you that grey crap?" He asked.

"He says that's what we'll be eating on the battlefield." Jamal answered.

"Is he aware that you guys aren't really soldiers and that this is a school and not an actual military operation?" Jake asked sarcastically.

"If he is, he could have fooled me." Miguel said. "Ah, huevos y tocino, I missed you so much."

Jake laid back in his chair. "If you're really that miserable then why don't you guys sneak out and get some real grub? You said that he doesn't really watch you closely anyhow. It should be easy to head to the store, get some food, and stash it away."

Tug shook his head. "The nearest down is a days walk away. There's no way we'd make it back before curfew. Besides, even if we did manage to make it, he checks th fridge all the time, so we wouldn't have anywhere to store the food." He explained.

Jake frowned and then looked around at them. "I think I can do something about that. I'll drive you down to the town, and I'll even pitch in for the food. You can keep it in my fridge, he won't look there." He offered.

"What's the catch?" Grunt asked.

"The catch is I don't have to watch five kids starve to death. Also, you guys are going to help me out with a little project of mine. Get me?" He asked smirking.

They all looked at each other. "We're in." Tug said smirking.

"Cool. Let's head out."  
"Wait a second. What if Calloway comes out to check on us?" Jamal asked.

"Don't sweat it. I thought that one out too." He said getting up. He made his way to the bottom of the stairs and then shouted. "Yo, Colonel!"

He heard the office door opened and then saw Calloway appear at the top of the stairs. "What's the emergency captain?" He asked.

"I was thinking of taking the cadets out for a hike up on the mountain trail. You mind if I borrow the truck so I can keep a close eye on them?"

Calloway rubbed his chin. They would be getting exercise, some fresh mountain air, and it would give him some time alone without having to worry about them tearing up the house. "That sounds like a fine idea. Don't stray to far though. There are bears up there."

"Will do sir." He said turning towards the door. "C'mon runts." The boys happily followed him out high fiving eachother on the way out. They couldn't believe how easy that was.

* * *

The boys looked around at the town in awe. "Oh man. Look at all these restaurants and shops. It almost makes me want to cry." Grunt said sniffling.

"You are crying." Jake said shaking his head at him. "Just hurry and get your food so we can head home already. And when I say food, I mean food. Don't come back here with a butt load of candy." He said looking at them sternly.

"All right! I finally get to use all that money my grandma sent me!" Baxter shouted running off.

"Summer babysitting money, time for you to shine!" Miguel said happily.

Jake sighed. They were about to blow all of their money one one go. He watched as they all split up and began heading to separate shops. Except Tug who simply stood there. "What's the matter? Not in the shopping mood?" Jake asked.

"No." Tug lied.

Jake looked at him curiously for a few moments before remembering what he said earlier. "You really are broke huh?" He asked. Tug didn't answer him. "Your parents didn't send you money?"

"No parents. It's just my sister and me." Tug said.

Jake simply stared at him. "Is your sister hot?"

Tug glared at him. "What?"

"I'm asking if your older sister is hot." He repeated.

"Gross." Tug said shaking his head.

Jake reached into his pocket and then handed Tug a hundred dollar bill. Tug looked surprised. "What's this for?"

"Because I feel like it." He said scowling. "Don't waste is all on candy."

Tug looked at him and then smiled. "Thanks."

"If you really want to thank me then set me up with your sister. Unless she's ugly... then just set me up with one of her hot friends." Jake said.

Tug chuckled and shook his head. "Your not her type." He said before walking off.

It didn't take long for the boys to finish getting their food. Tug and Jamal both got a variety of different foods. Miguel got a number of ingredients for Mexican dishes he claimed his grandmother always used to make him. Grunt got mostly meat. Chicken, Steak, Perk, Beef.

And Baxter... "What the hell Baxter! I specifically said not to waste it all on candy!"

Baxter smiled innocently. "Oh, I thought you said TO waste it all on candy."

Jake snatched the bag from him and gave him a light smack to the head. "Freakin' smart ass." He would just hide the candy under his bed and regulate it for the him. If he ended up with a sugar rush the colonel would definitely know something was up. As for actual food, he wasn't worried. He was pretty sure the others would give him scraps of their food.

Everyone began getting back in the truck. Jake was about to jump into the drivers seat until he felt someone tug on his pants leg. "Knock it off squirt."

"It wasn't me." Baxter said.

Jake looked down and then saw a puppy tugging on his pants leg. "What the hell? Where did you come from." He asked reaching down and grabbing the young pup. It kept squirming around and trying to get to Baxter's bag. "A candy eating dog? Ain't that something."

Baxter reached forward and began digging through his bag. "Oh, I don't think he's after the candy. He probably smelled this." Baxter pulled out a bag of beef jerky.

Jake shook his head. "Candy and beef jerky. What a diet kid."

Baxter opened the bag and the dog jumped from Jake's arms and into his lap. It began digging through the bag and Baxter laughed and petted him. Once the dog had it's fill of jerky if began licking Baxter. "Hey! Cut it out! That tickles!" Baxter said laughing.

"Okay, we fed the mutt. Now let's ditch him and get going before the Colonel starts wondering why we're taking so long." He said.

"Aw. Do we have to leave him?" Baxter asked. Jake glared down at him. He couldn't actually be thinking about keeping this thing, could he. "Can't we keep him?" Damn.

Jake sighed. "Look, we're already sneaking food back to the house. There's no way we could bring a dog back with us. It makes too much noise, we'd have to feed it, and it'll be pooping all over the place." He argued.

"We could ask the Grimwood girls to keep him. They already have a bunch of pets, and I'm sure Winnie wouldn't mind looking after him." Baxter said hopefully.

"Who the hell is Winnie?"

"She's a werewolf." Miguel explained.

"Wonderful..."

"Even if Winnie looks after him there's no way he's last a week over there. Matches would roast him alive." Tug said.

"Who the hell is- You know what. Never mind, I don't want to know. We're not taking the dog back with us."

Baxter held the puppy up towards him and frowned. "Aw c'mon, we can't just leave him. He'll never last out here on his own. He's just a puppy."

"Yeah man. It would be nice to have a dog around. Maybe once he grows a little bigger he can scare off Matches." Grunt said.

"We could use him to fetch all the stray balls over the fence." Jamal said.

"Not to mention having a guard dog in case of robbers." Miguel through in.

Jake looked at them all and then began rubbing his temples. "Guys, c'mon. I'm good, but I'm not a miracle worker here. How do you expect me to pull something like this off?" He asked.

Tug smirked. "You pull this off, I'll tell my sis how cool you are."

Jake looked at him seriously. "Is she hot?" He asked.

"Definitely." Miguel said.

"Ten out of ten." Grunt added

"A stone cold fox." Jama threw in.

Tug glared at them and Jake sighed. "I'll see what I can do." He said.

Baxter smiled and petted the dog. "You here that boy? We get to keep you. What should we name him?" He asked looking back towards the others.

"No! Do not name him! Once you name him you get attached, and I still don't know if I can pull this off!" Jake said.

"How about Rex?" Grunt asked.

"That's so cliche." Miguel said. "It should be something regal. Like Zues."

"That's stupid!" Jamal said. "We should name him Balto."

"He's not a cartoon character dude." Miguel said rolling his eyes.

Jake sighed. They weren't even listening to him. "Duncan!" He said. They all looked towards him. "The dog's name is Duncan. That's final." He said.

"Sounds fine to me." Baxter said happily.

The others all seemed content with the name. Jake turned and looked back at Tug who was wearing a smirk on his face. "She better be hot. And I mean like super model hot." He said. With that he turned back around and then began driving back towards the school. He would have lot of explaining to do once they got back.


	3. Modern Warfare

Jake parked the car in the garage and then looked back at the others. "Okay, lets put the food away first. Calloway should be in his office so lets make a made dash for my room. Then we'll deal with the dog." He said holding the puppy under his arm. They heard footsteps heading towards the garage. "Change of plans! Take the food and go outside! Go! Go! Go!"

They all grabbed their food and quickly made their way outside. The minute they left the door opened and Calloway walked through. "Hello Captain Jester. I take it your little mountain hike with the boys went well?" He asked.

Jake nodded. "Yes sir, it did. Boys are as fit as ever."

"Well that good. I want them to be in shape for... for... what is that?" Calloway asked.

Jake looked confused but then heard a bark. He looked down and saw that he was still holding the dog was still underneath his arms. "Oh, right. The dog." He said. He quickly tried to think of something to say. "You see, what happened was on our way back from the hike, we found the little guy on the roadside. He looked like he was starving."

"Uh-huh." Calloway said looking suspicious.

"And well, you know the Calloway code right? We help those who need it. So we picked him up, stopped by town, and fed it." He said.

Calloway smiled and nodded. "Good job captain. Be sure to give the boys my regards for performing such a commendable action." He said. "Be sure to take it to the towns vet later, just to be sure it's in caring hands." He said turning to leave.

Jake watched as he began walking off. Great, now hiding it would become that much more difficult since he's actually seen the dog. Suddenly an idea popped into his head. "Actually Colonel, I was thinking we could keep it." He said quickly.

The colonel turned around and raised an eyebrow at him. "Were you?"

"Yes sir. I mean the boys could use a pet. It would help to teach them about responsibility. Not to mention how useful it would be to have him around. With the proper training he could be a much valued guard dog." Jake said petting him.

Calloway rubbed his chin. "Hmm, you make a good point. But I'm not sure the boys are ready to take on that type of responsibility. And training a dog can be... difficult, to say the least."

Jake snapped his fingers. "We're a military school!" He pointed out. "And look at the breed of this dog. It's a German shepherd. There is no greater breed of dog on earth fit for a fine military institution such as this." He said placing the dog on the floor.

The tug made it's way over towards the colonel and then began tugging on his pants leg. The colonel thought for a moment and then reached down and picked up the dog. "No collar, obviously a stray. Did you see his mother around anywhere?" He asked.

"No sir."

Calloway watched as the dog reached forward and bit his hand. It's teeth were too small to actually break the skin or even hurt though. Jake slapped his forehead. This dumb mutt was NOT helping his case. "Hmm, I suppose keeping him around couldn't hurt. Very well, we can keep him." He said setting him back on the floor.

The dog barked and then ran back to Jake. "Thank you sir." He said picking him up. "I'm sure the boys will be very happy to hear that." With that he quickly made his way towards his room. He hoped that the boys were smart enough to sneak the food in while he distracted Calloway.

Once he got to his room he saw them gather around his fridge. Grunt had jus finished stuffing all of the food inside. "Okay runts, got some good news. We don't have to hide Duncan. I convinced Calloway to let us keep him." He explained.

Duncan jumped from his arm and then ran over to Baxter. The boy picked him up and the dog began licking his face. "Hah, alright! Awesome!" He said laughing.

"I still think we should have gone with Xerxes." Miguel muttered.

Jake ignored him and then peeked out of the door before closing it behind him. "Okay, I fulfilled my part of the deal, and now it's your turn." He said looking around at them.

"What do you want?" Tug asked.

Jake walked over and then pulled out a flat screen TV from behind his dresser. "I had a friend drop this baby off the other day. You guys are going to help me set it up on the roof."

The boys all looked stunned. "You actually expect us to set this thing up on the roof? You must be loco!" Miguel shouted.

Jake walked over and then stood on his bed. He pulled tapped on the ceiling and suddenly a small door opened up. "Follow me." He climbed up the whole and the boys exchanged glances before following after him. After Grunt hoist Baxter up they took in the view, and their jaws dropped. "Not bad huh?"

That was an understatement. The roof had a small sofa, a mini fridge, an air hockey/pool table, and even a TV stand. "Whoa, where did you get all this stuff?! And how did you get it up here?!" Jamal asked amazed.

Jake smirked. "Same friend that brought the TV by. This stuff was easy enough, all I had to do was move the parts up here and then put them together." He said jumping back on the sofa. "I like my room and all, but I needed a place to hang. There was no extra rooms or anything I could use as a man cave, so I just figured why not use the roof."

"Don't you think the colonel is going to notice?" Tug asked.

He shook his head. "No way. I already scoped the whole place out from the ground, and I positioned everything so that you can't see it from any angle." He said confidently. "Only problem is that the TV isn't as easy. I need you runts to help me get it on the roof."

"And you think we can pull it off?" Jamal asked crossing his arms.

Jake smirked. "I know you can. I saw some of the stuff you put together in the garage. That water balloon bazooka, the RC with spy camera, the paint bomb. One of you is a little child prodigy."

Miguel tugged on his shirt proudly. "Well, I don't know about prodigy."

"More like egg head." Grunt said chuckling.

Miguel frowned at him, but then turned back towards the TV. "It's pretty simple actually. We just need to make a pulley of some sort." He said peeking over the roof. "It should not be too difficult to make from this angle. I'll need some supplies though. Some belts, sheets, a wheel."

"Me and Jamal will get em together." Grunt said heading towards the door. They made their way back to the door and jumped down.

"Baxter and I will keep an eye on the colonel in case he comes back outside. I don't think he'll be happy to see us pulling a TV up the side of the house." Tug said. He and Jamal made their way down and Jake made a mental note to get a rope ladder.

He looked over towards Miguel who was muttering to himself about the pulley. The kid really was an egg head. "Hey Miguel, you seem like a pretty smart kid. Why aren't you at one of those schools for geniuses or something?" He asked.

Miguel never looked away from the roof. "Dad said military school would look good on my transcript. I think he just sent me here to toughen me up though. Don't think that he ever could get used to having a nerd for a son." He said. "Okay, calculation complete."

"Well, your smarts is helping me get a flat screen TV up here, so nerd it up."

Miguel laughed. "You got it. Hey, we get to crash here when we're done right?"

"Depends on how good a job you do."

"I'll take that as a yes." Miguel said with a smirk.

* * *

Tug and Baxter looked over the knots they made and making sure the TV was tied down tightly and securely. The last thing they wanted to to explain a broken and shattered TV in the front yard. Once they were done they looked up at Miguel who was standing on the edge of the roof. "Okay, go!" Tug yelled.

Miguel nodded and then turned back towards Jake, Jamal, and Grunt. "Okay guys. Pull." They nodded and then began pulling on the ropes connected to the pulley. The TV was slowly pulled off the ground and towards the roof. Tug smirked and watched as they slowly inched the TV closer to roof.

"Uh-oh." Baxter said. He and Tug looked forward and saw the front door beginning to unlock.

"Oh crap!" It was the colonel. Tug looked up at Miguel. "Guys! He's coming!"

Miguel grew wide and turned back to the others. "Guys! Hurry up! We got company!" He shouted. They all looked shocked and began pulling as fast as they could.

With one great pull the TV was pulled out of sight just before Calloway opened the door and walked out. "Cadet Tug, Cadet Baxter."

"Sir!" They said saluting.

Calloway heard a bark and then looked down at Duncan who was rolling around on the ground. "I see you're working on training our new recruit. Keep up the good work." He said.

"We will sir." Tug said.

Calloway looked around for a moment, like he was looking for something. They felt their heart skip a beat. If he looked up they would be on yard duty until they graduated. "Say cadets, let me ask you a little something. What do you think of Captain Jester?" He asked.

That caught them a little off guard. "Excuse me sir?"

"I wanted to know what you think of him. Be honest with me now. Is he taking his responsibilities seriously? "

Jake heard them and listened carefully. He had been here for a week, and he was a little curious as to what they really thought of him. Tug looked down at his feet and chuckled. "He has sir. He takes our training very seriously and he's really been raising the moral of the team." He said.

"He's really cool." Baxter said smiling.

Calloway looked at them and smiled. "Glad to know you think highly of him. I thought he might be taking it easy on you. I want you all to be in shape for the upcoming games."

"What game will it be this year sir?" Tug asked.

"We're playing Dodgeball this year. I expect you all to be on point and bring us home a victory this time around." He said.

"We'll give it everything we got sir." Baxter said.

Grunt's grip slipped on the rope and the TV began to fall. Both Tug and Baxter grew wide eyed as the flat screen looked like it was going to land on Calloway. Grunt reached forward and tugged on the rope as hard as he could, and the TV stopped just short of crushing the Colonel.

"You better cadet. I will not accept another lost this year." He said sternly. With that he turned around and went back into the house, completely oblivious to the TV hanging only inches above his head. Baxter and Tug gave sighs of relief.

Miguel wiped the sweat of his forehead and then turned towards Grunt. "What the hell man! Forget getting caught, we almost committed manslaughter!"

"I'm sorry! My hands slipped!" He argued.

Jake looked angry. "When we get done pulling this TV up I'm slipping my foot up your fat ass."

* * *

The boys all sat on the roof and played Street Fighter on the large flat screen TV. "Man, this is freaking awesome! I can't believe we pulled this off!" Miguel said happily.

Jake chuckled. "Yeah yeah, just remember this is my hang out, not yours. You can chill here from time to time, but if the Colonel thinks we're spending all our time in my room, he'll get suspicious." He said. "Ultra Combo!" He shouted.

Baxter easily blocked the combo and then countered. "KO." He said smiling. Jake looked down at him annoyed and then handed the controller over to Grunt. He couldn't believe the squirt was so good at video games.

He decided to just forget about it. "So, what was all that stuff about the dodgeball game?" He asked curiously.

Tug groaned. "Every year we have a match against those Grimwood girls. It used to just be volley ball, but they've been changing it up the past three years."

"You guys lose to a bunch of girls?" Jake asked laughing.

"MONSTER girls!" Grunt argued.

"We used to smoke them every year, but then they got some stupid coaches and managed to beat us three years back." Jamal said. "We haven't been able to win a game since."

"Man, that really is pathetic. Even if they are monsters or ghouls or whatever, losing to a bunch of girls is totally uncool. Your pride as men is on the line." He said opening a can of soda.

"You try out running a werewolf or vampire! It's not as easy as you think!" Grunt said.

Jake laughed. "That's no excuse. Dodge ball isn't just physical ability. It's also strategy."

"So, your good at dodgeball then?" Miguel asked.

He pointed to himself with his thumb proudly. "Are you kidding me? Back home I was nicknamed DBW. The Dodge Ball Wizard." They all looked at him confused. "Dodge ball Wizard... Kids Next Door?"

"Not a clue." Baxter said.

Jake shook his head. "I swear, this generation. Anyway, I could take the weakest rag tag group of kids and beat just about anyone on the court." He said haughtily.

"So you can help us win?" Baxter asked hopefully.

Jake scowled. "Oh come on. That sounds like way to much work. Besides, you don't need my help to win this. Just watch the movie Dodgeball and go with that." He said drinking down his soda.

"Oh c'mon!" Miguel whined. "We don't even know how to play dodge ball!"

"Ask the Colonel." Jake said.

"He never teaches us anything!" Grunt chimed in.

"Your the only shot we got!" Jamal said.

He was about to tell them no once more, but then Baxter looked at him pleadingly. "Please? We could actually have a shot at winning this year. If we do then the Colonel will lighten up on us for sure." He said hopefully.

Jake looked at him and then groaned. Why did he have to make that face? That pathetic, snot nosed, hopeless little face. "Fine, I'll help out. But for this to work, you have to do everything that I say, when I say it." He said getting up. "Now come on. We got work to do."

"We're starting practice already?" Miguel asked.

"No time like the present."

* * *

"Okay runts, who actually knows how to play this game?"

Miguel raised his hand. "I do. Whenever a person is hit that person is out. The point is to try and get everyone on the opposite team out. But if someone catches the ball, the person who threw it is out, and the one who caught it gets to bring in another team mate. You can also deflect the ball with another ball to keep from being out." He explained.

"Nice job."

Miguel smiled proudly. "I read a lot of books."

"But you forgot one thing. The name of the game is DODGE ball, and the most important element of the game is to DODGE!" He said taking out a dodge ball from behind his back.

"So we're starting with the basics huh?" Grunt asked.

He nodded and then pointed towards four safety cones. "Those cones represent your side. You step out of bounds, you're out. For now, we work on dodging every ball I dish out. Once you get that down, we'll work on throwing, and then catching." He said.

The boys began moving around attempting to stay light of their feet. Jake hurled the first ball and easily hit Grunt. The large boy groaned and walked off to the side. Jake aimed at Jamal next, but the taller boy easily leapt out of the way. "Ha!" Suddenly a second ball hit him in the side of the head. He stumbled back a few feet and then fell over.

"Just so you know, there will be more than ONE dodge ball in the game." He said taking out two more balls. "If you can't dodge me with just two then you'll never be able to avoid five."

Jake then threw another ball and hit Baxter in the leg. "Hey!" Baxter said.

"The game doesn't stop just because your teammate got out. You ALWAYS have to stay on guard and stay light on your feet squirt." Baxter groaned and then joined Jamal and Grunt on the sidelines. Jake looked at the two remaining boys. "And then there was two."

He brought his arm back and then aimed at Miguel, but then suddenly hurled the ball at Tug. He nailed the blonde in the chest and knocked him back on his butt. "What the-?!"

"It's called a feint Roper. You need to be ready to duck or dodge at a moments notice, even if it doesn't look like the ball coming for you." Jake said. Jake grumbled and then walked over leaving Miguel as the last man standing. "Think fast kid."

Jake moved his arms throwing a few feints, but Miguel managed to see right through them. Jake finally threw the ball for real, and Miguel jumped to the side. Jake flung another ball at him and Miguel moved his head ever so slightly managing to avoid it.

Jake looked a bit surprised. He reached down grabbing two more balls and tossed them. Miguel jumped up dodging the first ball that was aimed at his feet. When he landed he saw the second one coming for his face. He leaned back and the ball missed him by inches. Miguel tried to get stand back up straight, but fell back on his butt

Jake and the boys looked shocked. "Whoa, nice moves kids." Jake said.

"That was amazing!" Baxter said.

"Who knew the egg head was light on his feet." Grunt said chuckling.

The group suddenly jumped when they heard a loud howl. They looked over and then saw a girl sitting on the fence. She was short and covered in fur, and had claws and fangs. "I have to admit, that was pretty slick." The girl said smiling. "But you still don't have a shot against us."

They heard a screeching sound and then looked up to see a purple bat flying down. Jake watched as the bat suddenly tranformed into a purple haired girl. "Now now Winnie, we shouldn't tease them. After all, their practicing so hard. It would be BAT sport to mock them."

"Sibella." Tug said glaring at the girl. "What are you doing on our side of the fence?"

The girl smiled sweetly at him. "Oh, what's with that nasty tone Tug. If I didn't know any better I'd say you weren't happy to see me. And after we went through all the trouble of returning this."She pulled a football from behind her back.

The hairy girl, jumped down and then placed her hands behind her head before casually making her way to the taller girls side. "We'd appreciate if you kept you stuff off our property." She said.

Jake looked over the girls. The hairy one was obviously a werewolf, so that must have been the one Miguel was talking about, Winnie. He heard Tug call the taller one Sibella. Given her little transformation earlier he knew she must have been a vampire.

"We'd appreciate it if you didn't attack us for trying to get our ball back." Miguel spat.

Sibella giggled. "Oh right, Tanis told us about what happened last week. She sends her apologies, she thought you were grave robbers. The silly fears of a child." She said.

"Whatever. Just give us the ball back." Tug said.

She smiled deviously at him. "What are you willing to do to get it back Roper?" She asked.

Tug looked at her annoyed. "I can trade you a stake." He said

She simply giggled at him. "Don't be such touchy. How about this, I'll give you the football back, and..." Before he could react she was standing behind him, arms wrapped around his neck. "... I get to take a little sip of your blood." She said licking her fangs.

Jake looked worried for a moment, but Tug didn't seem to show panic or fear, so he decided to sit back and watch. Tug removed her arms from his neck. "I kind of need that in my body, you know, to live." He said irritated.

"You know, woman don't really take to stingy men." She said placing her hands on her hips.

"And men usually don't prefer chicks with fangs." He shot back.

The two stood off against on another until Sibella glanced over and noticed Jake. "Oh, I don't believe I'm familiar with this face. Is this a new student? He certainly is handsome." She said walking towards him. "And what's your name?"

Jake chuckled. "You know, it's awfully rude to ask someone their name before introducing yourself first. I would think going to a private school would teach you that much."

Sibella smirked. "My apologies. I am Sibella, daughter of Dracula." She said curtsying. She then looked over towards Winnie. "And my friend here is Winnie Werewolf."

Winnie leaned forward and sniffed at him. "You smell like Old Spice."

Jake looked a but surprised, but then let it go. She was a werewolf after all. "I'm Jake Jesters, the new activities director for Calloway. It's nice to meet you young ladies. Seeing as how we're right net door to one another I hope we can get along well." He said smiling down at them.

Sibella giggled and Winnie looked down to hide her blushing face. She usually wasn't one to swoon over guys, but even she had to admit he was pretty cute. "So , I suppose you plan on whipping these boys into shape for the dodge ball game?" Sibella asked.

Jake smirked. "They may be boys now, but they'll be men by the time they go through my ultimate dodge ball training camp." He said spinning the ball on his finger.

Sibella wore an amused look on her face. "We'll just have to wait and see about that. By the way, seeing as there is a new staff member, I think it's only polite to invite you all over for lunch tomorrow. That way you can be properly introduced to everyone."

"That sounds great. We'll be there." Jake said.

With that Sibella turned around and then turned into a bat. She flew over the fence and back towards Grimwood. "See ya fellas." Winnie said before leaping back up to the top of the fence. She turned around and stuck her tongue out before jumping back over the fence.

Jake smiled to himself contently. "Are you out of your mind?!" Jamal shouted. "There's no way we're going over to Grimwood! That place is a mad house!"

"It's called warfare gentlemen. Trust me on this... oh, and one more thing." He turned around and threw another ball hitting Miguel in the head. "Your out."

"That was a cheap shot!" Miguel shouted.

"And those are the best kind. Now lets' head back, It's getting kind of late and we're waking up early tomorrow... well, you guys are waking up early. I'm probably going to sleep until noon."

The boys all began picking up the dodge balls and heading back to the school. Tug who was behind the group felt an arm wrap around his shoulder. He looked up and saw Jake smirking down at him. "What?" He asked.

"So, you and the vampire huh? A little reverse Twlight going on?"

Tug looked shocked. "Wha-?! Are you crazy?! I do NOT like her! She's a blood sucking parasite!" He said.

"Who are you trying to fool? You two were all over each other. You could literally cut through all that sexual tension with a knife." Jake said.

"There is no sexual tension!"

"Look, I get it. Your sixteen, in your prime, stuck at an all boys school, there's a pretty hot girl next door. Just try and keep it in your pants until after the game, otherwise things will get complicated." He said giving him a pat on the back.

"You are so off base you're not even in the park." Tug said.

Jake laughed. "Sure kid. When you need some advice on dealing with girls just give me a call. I am always willing to pass down my ancient knowledge of wooing the ladies down to the younger generation." He said walking off.

Tug rolled his eyes and began following him. He stopped and glanced back at the fence. Him, like her? That was insane. Sure he found her attractive. Most of the girls had grown curves in all the right places over the past three years, except that Elsa chick... Still, to even suggest something like that was idiotic.

They were arch enemies. She constantly teased him, and he spat insults at her. That was just the way things were. Even before that stupid coach and his dumb mutts showed up. "As if..." He muttered walking off.


	4. Healthy Competition

Calloway marched up towards the front door of Grimwood. The boys were following closely behind him with Jake bringing up the rear. "Alright boys, I know you have a little rivalry going on with the Grimwood girls, but I want you to remember, we're still in the company of ladies, so make sure to be on your best behavior. Understood?" Calloway asked.

"Yes sir." The boys all answered in unison.

As they got closer to the door Jake walked up and nudged Tug. "So, what exactly am I supposed to be expecting from this place?" He asked.

Tug scratched his head "Hmm, what to expect. Well, not too much really. Since you're new they're probably going to try and scare you. They did the same thing with us. Just try and keep straight faced. Also, whatever they offer you to eat, don't eat it."

"Why?"

"Just don't do it man." He warned.

Jake looked curious, but decided not the press the matter any further. They got to the front of the door and Calloway knocked three times. The door opened and Jake looked surprised. There was a hand floating before them. "Good evening Handy, we're here to report for lunch."

The hand made a motion as if saluting, and then hovered off. Jake looked down at Tug. "Okay, explain to me how that isn't a dead giveaway for him?" He asked.

Jake shrugged. "I think he thinks it's a pet or a magic trick or something…"

A few seconds later a short stout woman with jet black hair walked towards them. "Why hello there! So splendid to see you all! Apologies for the appearance, I was just working on lunch!"

Calloway saluted to her. "Colonel Calloway and co, reporting for lunch ma'am."

She waved her hand. "Oh, come now. No need to be so stiff Colonel." She said before looking towards the boys. "Oh dear, I swear every time I see you boys you've grown so much. Jamal, you've grown like a tree my dear boy."

Jamal rubbed the back of his neck. "Thanks ma'am."

"Grunt, you've certainly turned into a strong one haven't you. And Miguel, growing more handsome with each passing day." She said smiling.

Grunt flexed his arm. "Well, I do work out every now and then."

Miguel ran his hands through his hair. "Gracias."

"Tug, you're turning into quite the fine young man aren't you. And of course I couldn't forget about little Baxter. You grow more adorable every time I see you." She said pinching his cheeks.

Tug muttered a thank you and Baxter rubbed his cheek. "Thank you Ms. Grimwood." He said grimly. He didn't like being called cute.

She then looked up towards Jake. "And I suppose you must be the new activities director that my girls told me about." She held her hand out and she shook it. "It's quite the pleasure to meet you Mr.…"

"Jester, but please, feel free to just call me Jake." He introduced with a bow. "And believe me when I say the pleasure is all mine Ms. Grimwood. That your students would host a lunch just to greet me is a credit to your skills in caring and nurturing for them."

Tug and Miguel looked at each other a bit surprised. Jake really could be a smooth talker when he wanted too. "You are quite the flatterer aren't you Jake." Ms. Grimwood said with a chuckle. She turned around and began leading them all inside.

They made their way to the living room and Jake noted that the entire house was covered in dust and cobwebs. It seemed fitting her guessed. Cliché, but fitting. After entering the living room she turned towards them. "You can all have a seat, I'll just finish up lunch."

Calloway tipped his hat. "I'll give you a hand with that ma'am."

"Why thank you Colonel. While the rest of you boys wait, Jake can meet the girls. Oh girls, would you please come down now and keep out guests company?!" She called. With that she made her way into the kitchen with Calloway right behind her.

Jake heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Winnie leapt down on all fours and then howled loudly. "Looks like all of you guys actually showed up huh? I thought for sure at least a few of you would chicken out." She said snickering.

Sibella walked down behind her, elegantly as ever. "Don't be rude Winnie, remember that their guests." She said smiling. "We're pleased to have all of you here."

Suddenly a loud laughter filled the room. "Wow, you were right Sibella, he's a cute one!" Jake watched as a pale girls rose up from the floor. He could see right through her body. She floated over towards him and stared him in the eyes. Her face only inches away from his. "Hiya, my names Phantasma! But most people just call me Phanty!" She said holding her hand out.

Jake looked awkward. "Uh… okay. My name is Jake Jester. Nice to meet you." He tried to grab her hand, but it passed right through her.

Phantasma broke out in laughter. "Gets them every time!" She said in a high pitched voice.

"Okay, so I'm just going to go ahead and assume you're a ghost." He heard larger and heavier footsteps coming towards them. He looked towards the door and saw a girl with tall black hair that had white streaks running through it. As if that wasn't strange enough, she had two metal screws sticking out of her neck.

"Hey, I'm Elsa Frankenteen!" She said excitedly. She reached forward holding her hand out, and he shook her hand, but then cringed in pain when she squeezed down. He couldn't believe how strong this girl was. It was ungodly.

She finally let go and he rubbed his now sore hand. "A pleasure." He said trying to hide the pain on his face. He looked around expecting to see a pink bow atop a bandaged up girl. "I think one of you is missing." He said. Suddenly a figure jumped out from behind the couch.

"Boo!"

Everyone stood in silence as the girl, who he knew as Tanis, stood on the couch with her hands raised up and her best scary face on. He stifled a chuckle and then raised his hands. "Oh man! You scared the crap out of me!" He lied.

She pouted. "Did not, you're just faking it."

"No really, you almost scared the skin off of me." He said patting her on the head. He knew she was a monster, and he knew she was supposed to be scary. But now that he was seeing her up close he couldn't bring himself to fear something that looked that adorable. "So, you must be Tanis. You gave me quite the scare last week too you know."

She looked down nervously. "I'm sorry. I thought you were grave robbers."

He looked back and down and then crouched down before whispering in her ear. "Hey, I'll tell you a little secret. When I was a kid, I used to be afraid of Mummy's." He said smirking at her.

She giggled. Winnie stepped forward and looked down towards Duncan. "And where did you pick up this little sweetie." She said picking him up. The dog licked her face and wagged its tail happily. "I can't imagine that Calloway actually softened up and let you guys get a pet."

"Well believe it." Grunt said crossing his arms.

Jake shoved his hands in his pockets. "We're a boy's school, and every boy needs a pet. So I pulled some strings cause… you know, I'm cool that that." He said sticking his chest out.

Elsa looked around. "Hey, he should meet our pet. Where is Matches anyway?"

"Oh Matches, come here!" Tanis yelled.

"Oh crap!" Tug said backing up.

Jake heard more footsteps and then suddenly saw a green blur rush by. A small lizard like creature landed in the middle of the room. It had wings on its back and was the size of a large dog. It growled at all the boys in the room. "He's bigger than last time…" Grunt said nervously.

"What is that thing?" Jake said with his hand on his pocket knife.

It snorted and smoke came out. Elsa walked over and pointed at the scaly beast. "No, that's a bad Matches! You treat out guest nicely!" She said sternly. The dragon frowned and then kneeled down sadly. He then shot a deadly glare towards Jake and the others. "Sorry, he takes his job as a guard dog a little too seriously sometimes."

Jake pointed at him. "T-that is not a guard dog. I'm pretty sure it's a dragon, but it's most definitely not a guard dog." He said shaking his head.

"Well of course he's a dragon silly, what else to you think we'd have guarding a school that's full of ghouls?" Tanis asked.

Jake looked totally caught off guard by that question. Ms. Grimwood suddenly entered the room. "Children, lunch is ready. And seeing as it's such a putrid day outside why don't you all come on out back so we won't have to be cramped up in the living room?"

"That sounds awesome!" Winnie said running outside.

The others followed her out. The back yard was covered in old withered plants, rotted roots, and smelled rancid to say the least. "This place is terrible…" Jake muttered.

"Why thank you." Ms. Grimwood said happily.

There was a long table set out for everyone. Both Colonel Calloway and Ms. Grimwood sat at opposite ends of the table, while their students all sat across from each other. Jake then saw an octopus coming out and quickly set the table before passing out the food. Needless to say it was odd, but at this point, he just decided not to question what manner of creature he saw.

He looked down at his plate and raised his eyebrow. The food looked normal enough, so what was that warning Tug gave him earlier about. He glanced up at the blonde who was shaking his head at him warningly. Jake looked back down and, to his shock, saw a worm crawling out of his pasta. He covered his mouth to keep form vomiting.

"Is something wrong dear?" Ms. Grimwood asked.

He shook his head. "No ma'am, I'm just not hungry."

"I'm not surprised. You Calloway fellows rarely are." She said chuckling. She then looked towards Winnie, who was scarfing down food. "Winnie, for ghouls sake, chew you food before you end up choking."

Winnie swallowed and then nodded. "Yes ma'am." She looked forward and saw Miguel who looked disgusted. "Weak stomach?" She taunted smirking at him.

"No, just your dog breathe." He shot back.

Jamal looked across the table at Phantasma who was smiling at him. He simply stared back nervously. He had never been able to read the girl very well seeing as her expression never changed and all she did was laugh. "Watcha staring at?" She asked suddenly.

He looked confused. "W-what are you looking at?" He asked back. She stared at him for a few more moments before suddenly bursting out in laughter. Jamal looked at the girl as if she was crazy. "You are so weird…"

Grunt looked at Elsa annoyed, while she simply smiled back at him. "What's the matter with you Grunt? You still shocked by me beating you in arm wrestling last time?" She asked.

He stabbed into his plate with his fork. "You just got lucky!"

Baxter looked down at the table while Tanis poked around her food with her fork. "I'm sorry for pulling you the other day." She said in a low voice.

"It's okay." He mumbled back.

Tug glared at Sibella who simply smiled back and winked at him in return. "Tch." He looked away from her with an annoyed expression.

Matches who was lying near the door snickered at the sight. It was clear which side her favored between the two, but it was still fun to watch them bicker with one another. Matches suddenly winced when he felt something grab his tail. He turned around and then saw Duncan biting down on the tip of his tail. The dragon lifted his tail pulling the dog into the air and growled.

"Play nice Matches." Ms. Grimwood ordered. She then turned towards Jake. "As you can see, the kids grow rather competitive this time of year."

"Yeah, they told me about the annual dodge ball game." Jake said.

"Well, we haven't had an annual game of any sort for some years now. We've switched the game to make things more interesting. Last year it was Soccer, the year before football, and the year before that I believe it was kickball." She said thinking back. "Anyway, a new game every year keep both team on their toes. Gives everyone equal time to get ready and all that."

Jake smiled. "Having a little healthy competition is always good. But, don't think that means my boys will be going easy on you. I'm putting them through my ultimate dodge ball training regimen. By game time they'll be unstoppable." He said confidently.

"Quite a bold statement Mr. Jester. But my girls are also practicing hard as well, and I think you'll find that victory won't be attained as easily as you think." She said.

Calloway coughed getting their attention. "So Ms. Grimwood, am I to assume that those two coaches will be returning again this year?" He asked.

"Shaggy, Scooby, and Scrappy? They will be stopping by on the day of the competition, but not to coach. They'll simply be there to cheer on the girls, and Scrappy will be refereeing again." Ms. Grimwood explained. Jake looked curious. The names sounded familiar to him, but he couldn't seem to place them. He shrugged and decided to forget it.

Sibella glanced over towards Jake. "So Mr. Jester, if you don't mind me asking, what brought you to work at Calloway?" She asked.

Jake was clearly caught off guard by the question. "Hmm, well it's not really that interesting of a story. I graduated from high school, picked up a few trades, went from job to job, but finally decided to get a steady gig here." He said simply.

Calloway quickly cut in. "Captain Jester's father was the one who recommended him for the job." He explained. Jake narrowed his eyes at the mention of his father. "He was a fellow soldier in my squad, and one of the bravest men I knew. Saved my life more times than I could count during my time in the service, so I was more than happy to enlist his son."

"So your father was in the service then?" Ms. Grimwood said looking towards Jake.

He nodded. "He was, but he's recently retired."

"Well, I'm sure you're glad to have him home and safe then."

Jake forced back an annoyed look. "Yeah."

* * *

After lunch everyone was free to walk around the grounds. Calloway and Grimwood were going to iron out all the details of the match, and Jake was going to try and find something that was actually edible by human standards. Which left all the students to themselves.

Phantasma laughed as she floated towards the boys. "That new guy of yours sure knows how to talk a big game. But does he really think you guys can beat us?" She asked smiling.

"He doesn't think, he KNOWS that we're going to win. It won't even be a fair fight." Grunt said arrogantly. "Just don't go whining to your dads after we send you home crying."

"You've got a lot of nerve talking all that garbage, especially considering you're the biggest target on the whole field." Winnie said.

Grunt looked angry. "What is that supposed to mean?!"

"I think she's calling you fat." Baxter said innocently.

Grunt towards turn the younger boy and shouted. "I'm no fat, I'm just pleasingly plump!"

Sibella giggled. "While I think it's quite amusing that you boys think you have a chance, I'd feel terrible if I didn't help you to brace yourselves for the upcoming lost." She said.

Jamal scoffed. "Yeah right! We're going to wipe the floor with you!"

"Don't bother with it Jamal. She's just trying to rile you up." Tug said lying back in his chair.

The vampire smirked showing off her fangs. "Well then Roper, since you seem so confident in your victory, would you care to make a little wager?" She asked.

The boys all looked towards Tug, who had been fairly quiet the whole time. It was no secret that Tug was the unspoken leader of the group, just as Silbella was the one the Grimwood girls looked to for leadership. "What type of bet are we talking here?"

"A fairly simple one, just between you and me. If my teams wins, then… then you have to let me have some of your blood." She said daringly. Everyone, including the girls, looked surprised.

"You must be loco!" Miguel yelled.

"W-wait a second! If you serious drink his blood won't he turn into a vampire?!" Baxter asked.

She shook her head. "I can drink without turning him." Besides, it wasn't like he would actually accept the bet. He would back down and she would make him lose face in front of everyone.

"Okay, you're on." He said smirking. Sibella looked at him a bit surprised. She wasn't sure if he was that confident in his team, or was just trying to act brave for the others. "But if I win, then you're going to have to drink a cup of garlic sauce."

Sibella frowned and glared at him. Winnie got up and whispered in her ear. "Okay Sibella, you're little scare tactic didn't work. Just call this thing off before you do something stupid."

"I accept." Sibella said.

"Sibella!" Winnie shouted.

"Are you crazy?!" Elsa said worriedly.

"Oh, stop worrying. At best one cup will only make me sick." She assured. While garlic was repulsive to vampires, only large amounts were deadly to them. "Besides, I won't even have to drink it, because we're going to dominate them in the game."

The vampire and the blonde glared each other down. "Better get ready to chug some garlic sauce bat-girl."

"In your dreams Roper."

"Attention cadets!" The boys all turned around and then saluted towards Calloway, which earned a few giggles from the girls. "We've wrapped up everything we need to around here, it's time for us to take our leave."

Ms. Grimwood walked over and smiled at the boys. "Well, it was a pleasure having you all over. Don't hesitate to stop by for another lunch, or just for a quick visit boys." She said smiling.

Tug felt a pair of arms wrap around his neck and looked over his shoulder to find Sibella. "Good bye Roper, I look forward to sipping that delicious smelling blood of yours." She whispered.

"Just get ready to guzzle down some garlic." He muttered back.

Winnie nuzzled Duncan and then set the pup down. "You better take care of him, I'll know if you don't." She said glaring at Miguel. He waved her off and rolled his eyes, earning a growl from the werewolf.

Phantasma floated towards Jamal with a crooked smile. "Well, be sure to keep your head until the big game." She said laughing as her head did a 360. Jamal looked horrified. Was there anything that this girl did that wasn't creepy?

"We'll find out who is really the strongest once and for all." Elsa said cracking her knuckles.

"You're on!" Grunt said.

Baxter looked down at her feet, but glanced up at Tanis. She gave him a small wave and he returned it. Jake looked at the two curiously. They had been acting weird around one another. He would have to make sure to ask Tug about that later.

"Well, it was nice meeting you all. I had a great time. If you ever need anything fixed around the place, you know where to find me." Jake said kindly. With that, they headed back to Calloway.


End file.
